Anne Arbor

Our team at Gentle Dental will tell you that good oral hygiene is important, not only for looks, but for general health as well. Poor oral hygiene can lead to a variety of dental and medical problems such as gum disease, bone loss, heart disease, strokes, and infection. In fact, we recently read a nine-year study which reported a spike in hospitalizations due to dental infections since 2008. Previous studies have shown that oral problems are responsible for hundreds of thousands of emergency room visits annually. The new report, however, published in the September 2013 issue of the Journal of Endodontics, focused on patients who were hospitalized due to periapical abscess, an infection that results from bacteria invading the pulp of the tooth. Periapical abscess is a common result of untreated tooth decay that, if untreated, can be dangerous if it spreads.

Besides periapical abscesses, we want you to know about other common dental infections, which include:

• Dental caries (cavities that form on children’s teeth)
• Gingivitis (inflammation of the gums)
• Periodontitis (gum tissue around the molar teeth, or any erupting tooth that becomes swollen and infected)
• Pulpitis (inflammation or infection of the pulp, which is the center of the tooth)

Although these infections can be caused by poor dental care and not visiting our office on a regular basis for checkups, they may also affect people with underlying medical conditions such as autoimmune disorders. In some cases, infections can progress to the point which swelling becomes life threatening. Regular checkups and cleanings at Gentle Dental can easily prevent these infections and other mouth problems and give you peace of mind.

If you have any questions about this study or to schedule your next appointment, please give us a call at our convenient Ann Arbor office today! Dr. Dagostin, Dr. Hwang, Dr. Lacin, Dr. Lechner, and Dr. Wang, as well as our entire team, look forward to working with you!

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays - the costumes, the decorations, the cavities. Wait, one of those things doesn't belong!

To help prevent cavities for our patients, we're hosting a Trick or Treat Trade In event on Saturday, November 2nd from 10am - 3pm in our office. You can RSVP to the event here.

Every participant will get an awesome prize (while supplies last), and every pound of candy you donate will get you one entry to win our AWESOME grand prize.

Maybe you're wondering where your candy will go? Nope, the doctors won't be splitting up your spoils and eating it all! We'll be sending it over to the troops overseas instead! Operation Gratitude delivers your candy straight to our troops abroad!

So trick or treat for Halloween, and then bring your spoils into our office November 2nd. It's for a good cause - the troops AND your oral health.

So wear your Halloween costume, donate your candy to a great cause, and walk away with some great prizes! Sounds like a sweet deal to us! Take a moment and RSVP here, and make sure to help us spread the word!

Food drives are common place in November and December during the holiday season, but here at Gentle Dental, we want to help our community whenever the opportunity arises. That's why we're working for the month of September in cooperation with Food Gatherers and Meijer’s to provide food for the families of Perry Nursery School!

Perry Nursery School is located directly behind us and we have worked through the years to be a good neighbor, so when one of our patients, who works for Food Gatherers, asked if we would support a fundraiser for their benefit, we were delighted to participate.  You can pick up a food donation card in our office to drop off at Meijer’s with your monetary donation, the next time you shop.  All proceeds collected by Meijer’s will be given to the families in need at Perry Nursery School.

Help build a brighter future for our community by making sure that children don’t go to school hungry!  If that isn’t a reason to smile!

Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. Please check back often for weekly updates on fun and exciting events happening at our office, important and interesting information about the dental industry, and the latest news about our practice.

Feel free to leave a comment or question for our doctor and staff – we hope this will be a valuable resource for our patients, their families, and friends!